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Reynaldo Carcillar and Antonio Lalik

I learned the news about Reynaldo Carcillar late night of July 1, 2013, Monday, and I was really driven to write this story right then.

Then an hour later, past midnight and already July 2 early morning Tuesday, I found myself monitoring the live broadcast of the shameless and obviously intoxicated Antonio Lalik.

I never felt so cynical about the Philippines at that moment. I find it amusingly pathetic that the government wanted to change the country's name to "Filipinas" as if that will change anything. Then again, why do you expect from bureaucrats expect stupid ideas, like selling the historic Rizal Memorial Coliseum?

I'm really affected by the news about Reynaldo Carcillar, the old man who died of a heart attack in front of La Salle University in Manila. He was a pedicab driver, meaning: he was poor and therefore unworthy in the eyes of most people in society. At the same time, I wasn't suprised that the security guards at the gates and the Pasay police in their mobile both ignored him.

The police are so territorial, always a sign of primitive minds, refusing to acknowledge anything that's out of their jurisdiction except for their extortion. I know how the police in the Philippines works, which I wrote about in our Jan. 12 edition. I really have no respect for the police in this country

As for the security guards, my experiences showed me they're mostly power-tripping enforcers of stupid rules from paranoid management, like public hospitals in Manila and call centers in Cebu especially Qualfon. Then when it's really needed, they consistently prove they are useless, like during those series of mall robberies in Metro Manila last year; I wrote about the Martilyo Gang in our Feb. 2 edition

The rigid bureaucratic mentality of this country's police and security guards are shown most vividly during the SM Pampanga tragedy, which I wrote about in our November 30, 2011 edition

One of life's sweetest temptation is to declare what you will do in a situation that hasn't happened yet, and it's usually hypocritical bull when it finally does. We Filipinos think in terms of an ideal but act in terms of convenient rationalizations. It's part of our culture. That's the greatest tragedy

Antonio Lalik is the Barangay (village) captain of Barangay Barangay 848 in Pandacan in Manila. There was a taping of the TV5 soap opera Cassandra: Warrior Angel on the next block and the cast and crew were parked in front of the Barangay Hall. Actress Jopay Paguia saw her car has been damaged. Witnesses told the victims that it was Lalik, who was driving drunk.

Actor Epi Quizon, as a gesture of friendship and moral support, went to the Barangay Hall because Lalik refuses to go out - as he is obligated by law to do. Lalik was abusive, demanding to see the witnesses. If there are no witnesses, then "bakit ko aaminin? (why would I admit it?)" he said defensively.

"Putang ina mo (You're mother's a ehore)!" he cursed Epi

When Epi went out the office, Lalik appeared at the window. "Tarantado ka (You asshole)!" he cursed further, giving Epi the finger.

He finally got out to harass Joel Gorospe, the reporter. What the son of a bitch didn't know is that everything was caught live on camera. It's low-breeds like Lalik that makes me ashamed to be still stuck in this country

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Huggybear is Jonathan Aquino, the author of Fisherboy, A Celebration of Life, The Way To Inner Peace and Why The World Needs Heroes. His poetry, stories, essays, and magazine features have appeared in major publications. His radio plays have aired on national radio in the Philippines with the great dramatist Salvador Royales as his mentor. His style of writing is influenced by Ernest Hemingway, Charles Lindbergh and Winston Churchill. He learned the art of editing from the works of DeWitt Wallace, founder of Reader's Digest. His 2Rivers showcases his new writings every Saturday. He lives in Cebu in the Philippines.